1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of preventing backside growth on substrates in an impinging chemical vapor deposition system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Backside growth on substrates in an impinging chemical vapor deposition system, if not prevented, often results in cracking of the deposit. Such growth also makes it difficult to achieve, in a vapor deposition system, replication of the figure and finish of preshaped structures. The presence of such growth is further disadvantageous in that post deposition machining is required to separate the substrate deposit from the deposition fixture. Backside growth on substrates thus is particularly detrimental in lightweight rapid optics fabrication.
A process is disclosed in application Ser. No. 389,248 filed Aug. 3, 1989 by J. T. Goela, M. A. Pickering and R. L. Taylor and assigned to the assignee of the present invention for fabricating, by vapor deposition, lightweight structures out of refractory materials. The methods and lightweight structures disclosed in that application, which application by reference is incorporated herein, involve a core to define the shape and size of each structure. The core is coated with an appropriate deposit, such as silicon carbide (SiC) or silicon (Si), to give the structure strength and stiffness and for bonding thereof to another surface, for example, the surface of a substrate comprising the faceplate of a mirror being fabricated.
In the fabrication of mirrors, graphite may be used to form a mandrel for replicating on a SiC faceplate. One side of the mandrel is optically fabricated, either as flat or as a convex spherical shape. The other side of the mandrel is lapped flat. The lapped side of the mandrel is bonded by means of pillars and graphite cement to a baffle plate in a vapor deposition reactor. The mandrel is then coated with multiple coats of a suspension of carbon in solvent, following which the surface of the mandrel is buffed or polished to make it as shiny as possible without significantly altering its figure. Deposition of SiC on the mandrel is then effected. Without separating the faceplate from the mandrel, the exposed SiC surface may be etched with hot potassium hydroxide (KOH) to improve bonding of graphite to SiC. A lightweight structure core is then fabricated from flat or curved graphite ribs, as disclosed in the aforementioned application for patent. After being bonded together with graphite cement, the lightweight structure core is bonded with graphite cement to the etched SiC surface of the mandrel. SiC is then deposited to enclose the lightweight structure core following which the baffle plate is separated from the baffle pillars. Controlled edging may be performed to remove excess SiC deposit. Using a blade, the interface between the graphite mandrel and the SiC faceplate may then be opened to recover the SiC coated mirror faceplate. The latter is then ready for Si coating.
Selective deposit to confine Si growth to only the front face of the SiC coated faceplate in the fabrication of the mirror surface is very important. This is for the reason, mentioned hereinbefore, that Si growth on the backside of the SiC faceplate is disadvantageous in that, if not prevented, cracking of the deposit on the front side often results, making replication in a vapor deposition system difficult to achieve, and additionally requiring post deposition machining to separate the substrate-deposit from the deposition fixture.